Rhode Island Lineup
Cucinotta (CF), Ramirez (2B), Kopack (SS), Genther (LF), Laske (C), Fortin (1B), R. Butler (DH), Marchetti (RF), Salgado (3B), Levesque (P)
 
Dayton Lineup
Jones (2B), Calero (3B), Pujols (1B), Strmecki (RF), Curtis (C), Casey (LF), Maloney (DH), Silverstein (CF), Daniels (SS), Manfredi (P)
 
How it Happened
A dominant performance from pitchers Trystan Levesque and Sean Sposato helped lead Rhode Island to an 11-1 victory at Dayton Sunday, giving the Rams the series victory in the opening weekend of conference play. Levesque (9) and Sposato (4) combined for 13 strikeouts, while limiting the Flyers to just four baserunners on the afternoon. Dayton never sent more than four hitters to the plate in any inning, while Rhody faced the minimum in six of nine frames.
 
The Rams got the scoring started early, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Joe Fortin stole third and then scored on the errant throw by UD's Jay Curtis.
 
Rhody held onto the one-run lead until the top of the seventh when Justin Cherry sent a pinch-hit double down the right field line to score Fortin and Brody McKenzie crossed the plate on a base hit by Jack Cucinotta for the 3-1 advantage.
 
A solo shot by Dayton's Marcos Pujols made it a one-run game in the bottom of the inning, but that was the last bit of offense the Flyers would get.
 
Rhode Island tacked on four more runs in the eighth as Alex Ramirez scored on a fielding error, Fortin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to send in Addison Kopack, and Rob Butler singled to right to drive in both Jordan Laske and Eric Genther, effectively putting the game out of reach at 7-1.
 
The Rams kept things rolling in the ninth however, putting another four spot on the board to punctuate the 11-1 victory. Ramirez made it 8-1 when he scored on Dayton's fifth error of the game and Laske pushed it to 9-1 with a sacrifice fly that drove in Kopack. Fortin then sent a two-run shot over the right field wall to seal the game at 11-1.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Sophomore Trystan Levesque was dominant in his first win of the season, recording a career-high nine strikeouts while allowing just two hits on the afternoon. Through seven complete innings, he faced just three over the minimum.
• Redshirt sophomore Sean Sposato was equally impressive, sitting the Flyers down in order in both the eighth and ninth. He struck out four of the six hitters he faced.
• Grad student Joe Fortin singled, homered, and was hit by a pitch twice. He also stole a base, scored three runs and had three RBI.
• Redshirt freshman Rob Butler went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in.
• Redshirt senior Justin Cherry hit an RBI double in his only at-bat of the day.
• Junior Alex Ramirez and redshirt sophomore Addison Kopack both singled and scored a pair of runs. Kopack also drew a pair of walks, while Ramirez was issued one free pass.
• Freshman Eric Genther doubled and scored a run.
• Grad student Jack Cucinotta had a base hit and one RBI.
• Grad student Jordan Laske was 0-for-4 but scored once and had one RBI. He also threw out his seventh base-runner of the season.
• Junior Calvin McCall and freshman Brody McKenzie each crossed the plate once after entering the game as pinch runners.
• Junior Tino Salgado was hit once and walked once.

Up Next
The Rams are back in action on Tuesday, when they travel to Bryant for a 3 p.m. game with the Bulldogs.